#Board Game Design

[bugbeast]

Self promo for my newest card game, Jewel Thief; but you can play it for free! First, though, let's cover the basics...

TL;DR - Its a 4+ player competetive card-matching game with four rule variants; buy it here or look for the orange text in this post to learn how to play it with a regular deck

"What is Jewel Thief?"

It's a card matching game with a villain; one player tries to match jewels in a 36 card grid while their opponent, the titular Jewel Thief, periodically steals cards from the board. You can check out its page on The Game Crafter for more information, but it'll spoil the rest of this post

"What makes it special?"

The game's turn structure would theorettically allow you, perhaps via some kind of infinite cloning machine, to play a round of Jewel Thief til the heat death of the universe. While I wouldnt recommend that, its lack of a player cap (and ease of set-up; seriously, all you do is put cards on a table) makes it a good party game choice.

But that's not all!

There are three extra rule variants that drastically alter the gameplay while keeping card matching and stealing as main mechanics. I believe the cards are versatile enough to allow for many custom games, too

"Okay, but why should I buy a silly game from some bug nerd?"

First off, ouch. Second off, that's the best part; you dont have to buy it to play it! Jewel Thief can be played with a standard 52 card deck. Here's how:

Step 1. Remove the 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings and Jokers

Step 2. Download the free rules from the shop page

Step 3. Play the game, matching cards based on their values. You'll need to designate a value as the Diamond jewel for game 4

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That's it for my little self-promo. If you dont buy the game, I hope you'll at least give it a try and consider supporting my future projects.

I also post art and photography, which you can find under the bugbeast art and bugbeast photos tags. I hope you check them out

Thank you for your time <3

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Edit (Mar. 25, 2024) : Thank you to everyone who liked and reblogged this; if you play the game I encourage you to share your thoughts in the comments and/or reblogs (even if you hated it). Feel free to share any custom games or house rules you come up with, too. I'd love to try them!

Edit (Aug. 10, 2024) : Final edit most likely; gonna blaze this one more time for good luck then maybe start work on a postmortem for the project, maybe give a little backstory for anyone who cares. Life is a little rough right now, but fate willing, I'll be able to work on/post about my future projects, including the future of Jewel Thief itself

[lyrelarkisforthebirds]

Who is Blake Thorburn? That's an easy one. Blake is a simple man. The sort of guy who knows how to use a set of tools. The kinda dude who's sick of beans and low on karma. Character witness @rainfrazier, describes Mr. Thorburn as "the most hated man in all of Canada." Oh how those pines and maples grow... 🇨🇦

The images above are for a game called Arkham Horror. All art has been used with express permission of the artists.

Blake Thorburn art: @redtailfins.

June art: @mikezeddart.

Dead Branches art: @deadbirdlife.

These cards represent a character you can pilot through the game. Blake's cards lean towards a play-style that manages threats in a risky way. Playing as Blake, the Abyss is never far.

A huge thanks to the contributing artists. These cards wouldn't be the same without your work. 🐞❤️

Other Pact + Arkham Horror designs:

Laird Behaim.

Rose Thorburn Jr. (wip).

Fell Atwell.

Maggie Holt (wip).

[catbatart]

Psst, BTW, I'm trying to get more into board game and TTRPG spaces so if there are any indie devs who've looking to hire artists, hmu

[gluebottles]

Candyland 1984/1997 board

[allyheart707]

More lore for my board game! :DD

Here is the box art for it! On it is all the characters you can play as!! White Knight (my personal favorite), Pink Knight, Purple Knight, Orange Knight, Red Knight, and Blue Knight!

Here is the board along with all the cards!

Here's what your player card should look like while playing!!!

In this game you play as a knight and your goal is beating other knight's castles! While traveling you can battle monsters and add them to your castle to defend it!

[legendaryvermin]

I've been thinking about the different kinds of difficulty in video games (and games generally), as well how to control how difficult situations are with the tools available. here are some categories of difficulty that I've identified: Execution Difficulty

Execution Difficulty is a measure that applies exclusively to the "thumbskill" involved in performing the actions needed to succeed. How tight is the timing involved? How many mistakes can a player make before they reach a fail state?

Strategic/Puzzle Difficulty

Strategic and Puzzle difficulty are tied to challenges where you have many options for how to execute, but not all executions provide equal resultant success. There might be more than one "right" answer (which marks the difference between a puzzle and a strategic situation, to me), but if there are, some answers are better, some tactics more effective, than others.

Commitment Difficulty

If you were inclined to be poetic about it, you might call this the "ironman factor". Commitment difficulty is about how long your choices can affect you, and how easy or hard it is either mitigate the effects of mistakes, or redo a scenario entirely. How long do I have to wait before making another attempt? How many attempts do I get? How quickly are my choices locked in? How much time do I have to decide?

Social Difficulty

Not all games have a social element, but any that do can introduce social difficulty. This isn't strictly about player actions that can harm another player's resources or goals, though it does cover that; it also encompasses clarity of communication, efficiency of team coordination and shared executional responsibility. How much do I have to rely on other players behavior to succeed? Do I need to communicate asymmetric information? what tools do I have to communicate with potential allies, enemies, or actors unknown?

This isn't a complete list, but it's my first foray into identifying where challenge lies in games. I think there is also measurable difficulty when it comes to navigation, but I'm not sure where to categorize it helpfully.

Anyway, if anyone has any thoughts about this I'd love to hear them.

[burningvelvet]

At the bookstore today I saw this new Mary Shelley game. It may seem like a cash-grab but honestly I think Mary herself would LOVE this. Mary's father William Godwin owned a children's bookstore which sold games as well. When they weren't writing some of the most acclaimed 18th century philosophy, he and his first wife Mary Wollstonecraft also wrote some childrens literature, and both focused heavily on youth education in their belief system. Later, Mary and Percy Shelley (both inspired by her parents, whom they idolized) also worked on childrens stories together and bonded over their mutual love for children, games, education, and imaginative play all around.

The description reads thus: "Contained within these three volumes is a secret many have devated their entire lives to unearthing, and always in vain. It is a secret I would have taken with me to the grave, except that it is, in more ways than ane, our family's legacy, and thus rightfully belongs with you.

"You have just received 'The Shelley Volumes,' a collection of hollowed-out books left by Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein) to her son, Florence. Inside you'll discover a trove of beautiful documents, 2D and 3D jigsaw puzzles, and other mysterious objects and artifacts. Solve Mary's puzzles and you'll be treated to a heartbreaking story that culminates in a shocking reimagining of the truth behind her famous novel."

From the website: "Mother of Frankenstein is a groundbreaking new game that combines the best of escape rooms, immersive theater, and prose fiction."

[gallifreyanz]

Ok Tumblr, do you like cats? Do you like dungeons and dragons? Well I made a board game! 🎉

[nomolosk]

I'm sitting here, coming up with a parody version of Clue™ just for a Lockwood and Co fanfic one-shot.

...

It's kinda fun, actually!

It's called "Haunted Mansion"

Instead of "solve the murder" it's "find the source."

Instead of playing suspect characters, you play different Agents (and a Supervisor) to make up a team.

Instead of "murder weapons" you have "potential sources."

And instead of trying to figure out who is the murderer, you try to figure out who's ghost is haunting the mansion.

I'm still figuring out the other mechanics, but so far I know it involves an egg timer, and suffering attacks from the "ghost."

[strawberrypopstation]

the wicked forest designed by gekidan inu curry.

[angel-g0es-gl0bal]

SOMEONE PLEASE MAKE A SUPERNATURAL MUNCHKIN CARD SET!!!!!!?????

[ultrapoobert]

[lyrelarkisforthebirds]

“Fell, you creepy-ass gun-toting bitch of Conquest, I summon you.”

For years now, Fell Atwell has been my favorite Fargo character disguised as a Pact character. But where has Conquest's best-dressed servant found himself now? Nowhere less than the sleepy town of Dunwich, of course! 🌲

The images above are for a card game called Arkham Horror, inspired by Wildbow's Pact. All fanart has been used with express permission of the artists.

Fell Atwell art: @ishdaj.

Pouch of Sand art: J.H. Williams III and Dave Stewart.

Family Business art: @senviva.

These cards represent a character you can pilot through the game. Fells's cards lean towards evasion and misdirection. When Conquest wants violence, he sends a soldier. When Conquest wants subtlety, he sends Fell.

A huge thanks to the contributing artists. You're the magic incantation to my pouch of sand. 🦎💚

Other Pact + Arkham Horror designs:

Laird Behaim.

Rose Thorburn Jr. (wip).

Maggie Holt (wip).

Blake Thorburn.

[oranolli0]

made an unmatched set for maul and ezra, served, dar wars

[keingakobold]

It's promotion time!

An IRL friend and I have been working on a boardgame for the past year or so, and we're launching on Kickstarter today!

All the art in the game was done by yours truly! If you like economic strategy, trade and engine building games this game is going to be right up your alley - check out the KS page HERE!

And to celebrate, I'll be holding a special Pledge Raffle! Everyone who messages me a pledge confirmation will be entered into a raffle for a Sit YCH and a 4-emote bundle! I'll be picking 3 winners at the end of the campaign!

If the game piques your interest, I'd really appreciate it if you could check it out or reblog and share it with any friends who like boardgames as well!